Ladro d'amore - Giacomo Casanova

Thanks to excellent lighting and compositions (he doubled as cinematographer), Joe D'Amato's video-lensed story of GIACOMO CASANOVA scores high in the XXX arousal category, but like the lion's share of his hardcore efforts is a throwaway story-wise.

Johnny Montana is an odd choice for the legendary lover (and memoirs writer), seen here in a jail cell, having been convicted by an evil judge, who took umbrage at Casanova's having sex with his daughter Bancarossa. Unfortunately, Montana doesn't even try to act, nary an expression of any sort crossing his face, so the intended world-weariness and other emotions are non-starters.

Opening sex scene has a beautiful girl and servant humping in a field outside Giacomo's cell window, supposedly making him envious (cue: blank expression from Montana). Fortunately for him, Bancarossa makes a conjugal visit, after humping his big-dicked jailer (latterly U.S. porn superstar Chris Charming) for the privilege.

She steals Charming's keys, effecting Casanova's escape, and he sails the seas while she is posted in Turkey as part of the Italian ambassador's retinue.

After much more sex (there are at least eight lengthy sex sequences in the feature), they are reunited in Istanbul but Casanova dumps her in a very unsatisfying ending.

The beautiful actresses here are all cast as "naturals" -no silicone whatsoever and very trim, slim figures, something of a change of pace for late '90s (and certainly since) porn. D'Amato throws in stock footage of Venice to quite unconvincingly broaden the general claustropohobia of the piece, and besides being a video shoot rather than 35mm it's clearly a low-budget quickie.

Montana is upstaged throughout by Charming's much bigger (and impressive) package, with Charming actually accorded more sack time than the title star. There is no care whatsoever regarding anachronisms, as not only Charming's flowery tattoo is out of place, but female tattoos also don't fit the timeline, and the wondrously beautiful blonde actress playing Bancarossa has an incongruous all-over tan (better than tan lines I guess), modern stockings and even two-tone black & white fingernails that look more like '90s "in the 'hood" than Venetian.

Anal sex is de rigeur, featured in every scene of this video.

Thief of Love (1996)

* (out of 4)

Casanova is locked up in prison where he can look out his window and see a young couple having sex. His passion and heat explodes to the point where he must do something about it. Here's is yet another porno from Joe D'Amato but he's a long way from some of his earlier films. This one here is deadly slow, boring and features some rather bland sex scenes. D'Amato's cinematography is the one saving grace but you don't really come to a porno to see that.

Director Joe D'Amato will always be remembered for his horror films like BEYOND THE DARKNESS and ANTROPOPHAGUS as well as his long running Emanuelle series with Laura Gamser. After the Italian horror market dried up, D'Amato had a comeback with the softcore ELEVEN DAYS ELEVEN NIGHTS, which eventually led to the director doing porn titles. The director had previously mixed sex and horror in such titles as PORNO HOLOCAUST and EROTIC NIGHS OF THE LIVING DEAD but those films were a long way off from his later day porn.